The Winds of Change
by Jaden Meitzer
Summary: Ponyboy had always thought his life was planned out for him, that he really had no say in what track his life took. Then one day he meets the new girl in town, Callie, and she changes his perspective on a couple of things. I suck at summaries, just give it a try! :) PonyxOC possible JohnnyxOC. Follows the book. T for mild swearing.


**What's up guys! This is my first attempt at a story, so I hope you enjoy! :)**

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Ponyboy Curtis was bored, plain and simple. He and his best friend, Johnny, had just spent their last couple of quarters playing the Pinball machine at the bowling alley, and were now hard pressed to find something else to do. They figured they'd go down to the DX station where his brother Sodapop worked and buy a couple of Pepsis and wait for Soda to get off work. Soda and his best buddy Steve usually let them help work on the cars, which was fun.

"Come on, Johnny." He said to the black haired boy."Let's go." Johnny nodded and followed his friend out the door. Ponyboy wasn't really watching where he was going, didn't even realize he had knocked someone over until he heard the loud protest and saw the books scattered all over the sidewalk.

"Hey, I'm sorry!" he said quickly, feeling his ears redden as he bent down to help pick up the fallen books. The girl he'd knocked over was already hurriedly collecting them, and Ponyboy recognized a fair few of them. _To Kill a Mockingbird, Frankenstein, Bram Stoker's Dracula, _Basically all the classics. He apologized again, stumbling over the words and inwardly cursing his shyness. The girl stood and brushed off her pants. She was wearing blue jeans with holes in the knees, a pair of combat boots, a Snoopy T-shirt and a jean jacket. She was small, barely reaching five feet, with coppery-red hair that fell in ringlets down her back. She also had almond shaped brown eyes set in a heart shaped face. She looked at him, sizing him up with an impassive expression that seemed a bit annoyed. Apparently deciding he wasn't the kind of hood who was going to jump her, her expression softened and she smiled. _  
_

"Sorry." Ponyboy said softly, almost inaudibly. She shook her head, sending her copper curls spinning around her shoulders.

"It's fine, I should've been lookin' where I was goin'. No blood, no foul." the girl replied, shifting her books to one arm and holding out a hand. "I'm Caroline, by the way,Caroline Mason. But Y'all can call me Callie."

"I'm Ponyboy Curtis." Pony replied as he shook her hand and gestured towards Johnny, who had been standing there with his hands in his pockets and seemed very interested in a crack in the sidewalk. "And this is my buddy Johnny Cade." The most Johnny could manage was a shy wave. Callie stared at them for a while, then broke out in a grin that would rival Two-Bit Mathews'. The grin brought out a cute dimple on her right cheek.

"Y'all don't say much, huh?" as if to illustrate her point, Pony and Johnny just shook their heads in unison, widening her grin and deepening the dimple. "That's okay, I can talk enough for all three of us. Say," She jerked her head behind her, gesturing up the street a little. "I saw a diner back there a little. Y'all hungry?" Both boys shook their heads politely, causing Callie to make a very unladylike snort through her nose."Aw, come on. You'd be doing me a favor, I just moved to Tulsa and I don't really know anyone here." Her big green eyes were wide. "It's my treat." She said in an almost singsong voice. Relenting, Ponyboy and Johnny followed her up the street and into the shabby local diner. Let it not be said that Pony and Johnny were the only teenage boys ever to turn down free food with a pretty girl.

As they sat down at a booth, Johnny finally found his voice. "So where're you from?"

"Oh, I moved here from Houston, but the only place I've ever really felt at home was New York, where I lived 'til I was like thirteen.I only lived in Houston for about a year and a half. We moved here 'cause my Pop got a better job here. Plus he figures I'll have a better education here." Callie said, scanning the menu. At this point, the waitress came over and Callie ordered three burgers, three Pepsis, and a plate of fries for them to split. "What about y'all? Have you always lived in Tulsa?"

Just then, two guys walked into the diner. One was tall and dark, and the other was blond, and kind of looked like a lion. A friendly lion. Ponyboy quickly recognized Bryon Douglas and Mark Jennings. They had known each other forever, and if Pony remembered right, lived in an even worse neighborhood than he did.

"Hey, baby!" Bryon said, sliding into the empty space next to Callie. Pony noticed her roll her green eyes. "Y'know, I ain't never seen you around, but I think we can fix that." Mark just stood by their table, laughing at his brother as he tried to pick up Callie, who looked uninterested as she popped a fry (which the waitress had just brought over, assuring them that their burgers would be out in a minute) into her mouth as she cocked one eyebrow and looked at him.

"Yeah," Bryon continued, not realizing, or maybe not caring, that he wasn't getting anywhere. "Why don't we hang out sometime? Only we'll have to walk cause I don't got a car. I know this city pretty good, though, and walking's fine by me."

At this Callie snorted. "Must be hard. Never being able to drive your way to a decent Pick-Up line." She continued eating and ignored the dark haired boy. Ponyboy raised his eyebrow. He'd known Mark and Bryon his whole life, and had never known a girl to turn Bryon down.

"What's your name, anyways, sweetheart?" Bryon asked, not fazed by the insult.

"My name is Caroline. My _friends _call me Callie. I don't know what you should call me. Maybe grow a personality and deflate that head of yours, then we'll think about it, yeah?" Callie said with an angelic smile.

Now Bryon was getting angry. He got up and left, beckoning Mark to come with him. By this time, Ponyboy was fighting hard not to laugh out loud, and Johnny had an uncharacteristic grin on his face.

"Wow." Johnny said quietly. "I ain't never seen no one talk to Bryon Douglas like that." Pony nodded in agreement. Callie laughed.

"Well, maybe if people did, he wouldn't have such a big head and a high opinion of himself." Callie said, shugging indifferently.

Not long after, the waitress brought out their food, and they ate in silence, allowing simple conversation to pass between them.

As they left the diner and went their seperate ways: Ponyboy and Johnny to the DX to walk with Soda, and Callie headed towards her house (which they found out was the house across the street from Ponyboy's) Pony's thoughts went to a time when he'd wished he could live somewhere other than Tulsa.

_Well, _he thought as he and Johnny headed across the street to the DX. _I think Tulsa just got a bit more interesting._

And with someone like Caroline Mason as a friend, how could it be anything but?

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** So we'll end the first chapter here! :) Chapter 2 should be up later this week! R&R please! Constructive critisism. Flames will be pointed out and openly mocked! :)**

**Stay Gold!**

**Rayne**


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